Puppy Kisses

Citizens of Humanity floral jeans – Shopbop (also seen here and here)lip color – MAC So Vain Kissable Lipcolour
liner – Urban Decay 24/7 liquid liner in SabbathCliché at it sounds, it seems like only yesterday that little Miku came teetering into my life. My mom is as much of an animal lover as I am and never deprived us of furry, feathered, and reptilian friends throughout our childhood and beyond. We even had a few hairless rats, too, because sometimes the ugliest ones are the most endearing. When I went away to college, I was incredibly lonely without an animal companion; I was nearly friendless as well, save for my roommates, Courtney and Stefanie, and a very busy pre-med Malisa. My mom smuggled my bunny Peanutty aka Nunner the #1 Bunner into my apartment, and I was happy again. A little over a year later – while home for Easter – my mom surprised me with a tiny little ball of fur named Miku.Only, I didn’t name her Miku. But I’ll get to that.Amanda was still in high school and living at home, at the time – and back then, we didn’t get along as well as we do now. Though I got in pretty late and Amanda was sleeping, my mom insisted that I go into her room and say hello. Upon opening the door, a magical baby princess with a unicorn glow came out from under the dresser and I got really teary eyed and yelled out, “Baby kitty!”I should mention that I call every kind of animal a kitty or bunny, at some point in time. Mice are kitties, birds are kitties, puppies are both bunnies and kitties. Cows are kitty cows – they get the supplement for whatever reason. But I digress, as I often do.At first, I didn’t realize she was even mine. Hello, I lived in student housing and wasn’t allowed to have a bunny, much less a puppy, even if she would’ve raised the property value based on her presence alone. But my mom is a little crazy and doesn’t like rules. She saw a puppy in need of a home and a girl in need of a puppy. We were a match made in puppy adoption heaven, and it turned out that Nunner and Miku were quite a dynamic duo, as well. I’ve never seen a bunny have so much authority over a pup. Then again, I’ve never met a bunny quite like Peanutty. She was a special one.Once the initial shock wore off, I got down to the naming business. I’ve named many an animal in my life. Puppy, for instance. He’s a cat. I also had a bird named Feathers – and yes, I’m the one who named Kitty Boos. I even named a friend’s dog Sir Barks A Lot, when I was little. Clearly, I have a talent worthy of recognition. But my mom disagreed and shot down all of my potential names for Miku. First, I wanted to name her Bunny. Being that I had a bunny and could also have a dog named Bunny, I thought this was an excellent option. Luckily for The Glamourai and her adorable Papillon, I complied and went searching for more brilliant options. I still call her Bunny, though – along with a million other nicknames (Mikachu, Mikanese, Mookoo Las Vegas, Meeky Schmeeky, Sprincess, Love Bug, Baby Doll, Schmooks, Kugar, etc). Next up, I went for another obvious but brilliant one: Unicorn. Smacked down by my mom again, I altered it to Unico, like the lovable Sanrio character. Boom, she dismissed it. I tried out Cheese, in honor of my favorite character on Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends. At that point, she decided I was unfit to name such a beautiful creature and therefore took over that honor. It took her all of five minutes (I might be exaggerating) to grace Miku with a moniker I can’t imagine her without. And that’s how Miku got her name, in the same way I got mine: from my mom. I guess it only makes sense for both of us to have Japanese names. She is my little baby, after all.